And in the Dead of Quiet
by Kandalyn Kohl
Summary: Uchiha Suzuki is captured by the Akatuski. Itachi is ordered to interrogate her, but Suzu hides her identity from him. When he finds her out, will he save her from a brutal death in Pein's hands? Rated for torture, rape, violence, and suicidal delusions. Also some cool (creepy?) OOC from Dei at one point...
1. Chapter 1- To Save a Broken Past

**My second attempt at Naruto fanfiction. I have no rights to Naruto, but Suzuki is my OC. Oh, and Itachi fans, he appears later. Enjoy the story?**

Chapter One: To Save a Broken Past

How long had it been? Maybe days, maybe only hours. But the dark, the silence, and the near absolute lack of movement made it seem a century of quiet, and Suzu was almost grateful for it.

She could stand the silence and the deprivation, elements which had always been familiar to her. She had never been a stranger to loneliness, having grown up with little personal human contact. of course, an adoptive brother was better than no one at all, but Sai was somewhat detatched in his care for her, mostly because of his ties to Root.

_Is anyone going to try to come after me?_

She highly doubted it. The hokage would never be rash enough to send anyone after such a lost cause, a single weak, useless girl guarded by the most imfamous group of missing-nin. Naruto and Sai would probably try to intervene on her behalf, but she knew that Sai understood that Root did not engage in these types of missions.

But on that note, Danzo might break his own rules this time. Suzu was his precious little secret weapon, the last Uchiha who was still unmarked by the hand of fate. Itachi would die, Sasuke would die, but Suzu, though unknown and untrained, had obvious potential. Of course, the best course of action Danzo could take was to confirm her death, then send someone after her corpse, though that would not be much use, as her sharingan had never been activated. Still, she knew things that were kept from even the highest classes of anbu, things that could bring Danzo's plans to ruin if revealed to any nin. Every clan had their secrets, and in this case they were known compeltely to the only female Uchiha left living.

A light outside the cell seeped in from under the door, making Suzu wonder how long it had been since she had seen any form of light. The day the Akatuski took her had been clouded, and since then she had been confined to the cell. Presently the door opened, washing the room in a harsh light. Suzu jerked away involuntarily, then fell still as sudden pain shot though her arms, which were clamped by the wrists to the wall behind her back.

The voice was dry, but with a strangely child-like edge which was vaguely disturbing. She tried not to shudder, dropping her head and offering no reply.

_Why did they take me? Why me? Did they figure out who I was? Was it only my connection to Root?_

She was met with a merciful quiet in return, until she realized that an answer was demanded. Well, fuck them, they could wait as long as they wanted.

The cuffs fell from her wrists, but their cold was quickly replaced with a painful, cutting sensation around her wrists. She looked down to find blue, burning threads wrapped around them, and instinctively turned to find their source.

He was small in stature, but the clear lack of mercy in his vacant wooden eyes filled Suzu with a cold dread.

_Sasori of the Sand. _

He dragged her closer, and she was too feeble to resist.

He had no idea how much damage her name could do.

**Review and tell me any ideas you've got, and I will consider them! Please follow the story/me for more. Chapter Two is in the works. Plenty of torture ahead...**


	2. Chapter 2- My Silence is my Self Defence

**Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto and its characters, I own Suzu.**

Chapter Two: My Silence is my Self Defense

Silence came naturally to Uchiha Suzuki. It was her deceptively quiet character that had made her a double edged sword to Danzo, as his complacent tool was also the hoarder of the Uchiha's darkest secrets. Now she clung to it like a worn out shield, trying to convince herself that it would all be fine as long as she kept her mouth shut.

_It shouldn't be that hard, right? Either way, they will kill you..._

Sasori's threads could move at a lightning speed, and he brought them down across her arms. Their touch burned like whiplash but cut quickly like razors, leaving bloody lines on her forearms. Strings wrapped around her torso and were pulled tight, drawing trickles of blood and sinking into her flesh. Then Sasori let go of one end and yanked away the threads, slicing deeper into the wounds.

Suzu was on her knees, eyes squeezed closed, her jaw aching with pressure. The pull on her wrists slackened, then tightened suddenly to slam her hard against the stone wall. Pain like steel blades dragged against her neck, choking her. She wanted desperately to scream out, but was grateful that she could hardly breathe.

The strings yanked her neck back, slashing visciously against her collarbones. She was painfully dizzy with pain, and at her unsuppressed gasp Sasori suddenly let go of the chakra strings. Suzu collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily, hands pressed to her bleeding throat.

"Not even your name? That's unusual.." The strings descended on her again, whipping across her body at random.

A quiet laugh. "So you've taken courses against this sort of thing, right?"

The threads hauled her to her knees, pulling her arm in front of her. When the expected pain did not come, Suzu looked up to see Sasri holding a syringe. On impulse she tried to pull back, which only tightened the threads, making her wrist bleed even more than before. Ignoring he pain, she bit down on her tongue and pulled back with all her strength, the now embedded thread cutting deeper and deeper like a knife.

The liquid was cold, which didn't surprise her. She steeled herself mentally, pushing herself into a state of trance as the room fell away into blank space.

_The serum can only make me speak my mind. What they want are my memories, and that much I can control._

**Damn, this is even shorter than the last one. Well, at least there was torture. How I love torturing my characters...**

_**Spoiler!**_

_**Itachi appears in the next chapter.**_

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3- The More I Bruise to Lay Low

Chapter Three: The More I Bruise to Lay Low

When Suzu's full consciousness returned her wrists were once again chained to the wall above her head. Though most of the cuts were closed the slashes that wrapped around her wrists refused to, being covered by the shackles.

How long would it be until she would have to face some other form of torture? She knew that she looked young, vulnerable, even, with her even features and large eyes. Easy to break, and that was why they had gone easy on her at first.

Another period passed before the door once again opened to blind her with light. She held still this time, waiting for what agony was sure to follow. A hand grabbed her by her hair and jerked her head up. Shock and an awful realization shook her at what she saw.

Suzu tried to shut her eyes, but the impulse came too late. The genjutsu behind those red eyes trapped her, and a pounding pain began in her head as she struggled against Itachi's genjutsu.

She was tied to a stake; The sky was blotted out by dark birds. Suddenly she feared not only for her life, but also for the knowledge she had of he Uchiha. Could she fight the sharingan with sheer force of will? There was no other weapon she had.

_Except an inactive sharingan of my own._

That, though, she doubted would be of any use either.

Uncomfortable as Itachi was about torturing a nin from the Hidden Leaf for information, especially one with Root connections, but a double agent had to keep up appearances. Upon his entering the cell, the younger nin made no movement, though Itachi could tell that they were conscious. Of course, the sharingan would be useless without eye contact, so he had to force the nin to raise their head.

He had not received much information about the nin, and he realized with a pang that it was only a young girl. Marks and bruises from Sasori's beating marred her features, making her seem older, but Itachi could tell that she was no older than sixteen, seventeen at the most.

It was her resemblance to Sasuke that made him hesitate. No, not Sasuke; She resembled a Uchiha! But that wasn't possible...He activated his sharingan just as her eyes opened, but the strange mixture of dread and familiarity in them disturbed him more than he would accept.

_By Kami...she looks like a Uchiha!_

_Well, damn._

Itachi stood in front of her imposingly, a katana in hand. Suzu tried to look away, but she was paralyzed against the wood.

_Slow down, Suzu. calm down. _She tried to reassure herself. _You're a Uchiha too. He's not in your head, you're in his._

Itachi didn't move, but Suzu would hear his voice.

**_What is your name and rank?_**

At her silence he stabbed his katana into her thigh, causing a searing pain.

_Like I'll fucking tell you._

It would take more than that, Suzu swore to herself. She didn't want him to know who she was, didn't want him to know that she knew more about him than even Danzo. Itachi drove the katana through the left side, scraping the edge of her ribs. She struggled to breathe, every breath burning her torn diaphragm. Suzu could feel the tip of the katana sticking out her right side, felt warm blood dripping to her toes. Familiar dizziness seized her, and she fought hard against it, trying to clear the stray thoughts from her mind.

This was much worse than what Sasori had done, and the gaping wound in her side wasn't even real! Without warning, Itachi drew the blade out of her abdomen with a single motion, and the agony of it seized her. Stifling her screams became too much, and Suzu bit down onto her lip, blood from that and what she was coughing up running down her chin. Tears were coming down now, and this hurt her almost like a physical blow.

_God...how much more of this- No, Suzu, its all in your head! _

All in her head.

All this pain, and she couldn't escape it for a second. There was no comfort of unconsciousness, no good threshold of pain to step beyond.

**_Fine, then. Just your name, and I'll stop the pain for a moment._**

Just her name...it was so tempting. Her name, but did he mean her full name? She didn't care, just hoped that he would have the mercy to stop.

"Suzuki..." She managed to mutter, speech bringing on a fresh round of choking.

**_And your clan name? _**

"No..." Her voice was breaking with the effort to keep herself from screaming.

Itachi drove his katana into her chest, below her collar bone, again shoving it straight through. The pain became unendurable, and Suku finally shrieked, the sound muted by the blood at the back of her throat.

**I am such a sadist, as I enjoyed this chapter way too much. Please leave a review, and tell me if you are also this sadistic!**


	4. Chapter 4- It Breaks me in to Stay Alive

Chapter Four

Itachi paused the jutsu for a moment, and took another look at the girl. She was crying uncontrollably, shaking with the effort it took to control her mind within his genjutsu. Blood ran down her arms, and Itachi guessed that there were wounds under the shackles. SHe was under obvious mental strain, but so dar had given up only her name, not even her clan name. Delicate as she had appeared, it seemed that the illusion of physical pain, however excruciating, was insufficient. Of course, brute force might work eventually, but for now he would try a different approach.

Suzu woke up in another of Itachi's jutsus...or so she hoped. She was tied down to a metal table, in some sort of crude laboratory. On the desk next to her were two small jars and an array of surgical instruments.

_Oh..Kami.._

No.

A blind spasm of terror seized her. In the darkness beyond the room she thought she saw a flash of an arm, an arm littered with bandages and mismatched eyes.

_Its not real this is not real one of this is real_

Suzu saw nothing, felt only cold metal on her back, felt the cold sharp steel, and then she lost it.

"Stop! Stop! Don't do it, don't do it! I don't have one! I don't have one!"

Itachi stared at the thrashing, shrieking girl in disbelief, wondering why in the world she would react so strongly.

_Could it be that...No, that was impossible._

His thoughts were cut off abruptly when Suzu's eyes flew open suddenly, and Itachi was shocked to realize that he was staring into the fiery orbs of an eternal mangekyo sharingan.

**I apologize for the short chapter. is not letting me copy and paste new docs into being, and I lost half of the next chapter and have given up on finding it. THe gods of fanfiction must hate me. But no worries. I'll rewrite chapter five _and _have it up later tonight.**


	5. Chapter 5- And Given One to Trust

Chapter Five

The sudden power was dizzying. Suzu knew that she had made a terrible mistake, that her pathetically low chakra would not be able to support the mangekyo sharingan for more than a few minutes. After it ran out she would fall back into unconsciousness, or possibly even death. But that was just as well.

Except for the fate of her eyes. It they were taken, Suzu knew it would amount to no good.

Now that their positions were reversed, Suzu, though in chains, had Itachi trapped in her genjutsu. They stood in grey space, as Suzu could instinctively control the basic elements of the genjutsu but not the intricacies of it. She knew his true loyalties; He knew that she was a Uchiha. Even if he killed her for the Akatsuki, he would have the dignity to keep her sharingan from falling into evil hands.

"So you're _Uchiha _Suzuki." She did not respond, only wished that she knew enough about using the sharingan to be able to seem as strong as Itachi had in his jutsus.

"And a direct descendant of the pure-blooded Uchiha line." Suzu turned away. She herself had traced this from various genetic tests she had taken in secret, and this was one of the many things that Danzo had no knowledge of.

"Kami...Danzo never told me that anyone survived that night."

"Barely anyone knows about me. The truth about me, anyway. And as for Danzo, I wouldn't put so much faith in the things he tells you. You probably know less than you think you know."

"Does Sasuke know?" Suzu snorted, the question was so ludicrous.

"If Danzo never bothered to tell _you_, why in Kami's name would Sasuke be told? Besides, I was not raised in the Uchiha's village." Time was running out on her; She could feel the power of the genjutsu fading with every passing moment.

"Uchiha Itachi, I charge you, as a fellow Uchiha, never to return my body to Danzo. Destroy my eyes, or take them as you see fit." The walls dissolved from her view. As her grip on the illusion loosened, Suzu saw first stars, then nothing.

Itachi was stunned, and knelt in shell-shocked silence as the jutsu lost its hold on him. Another powerful Uchiha, and Danzo had never told him. Gradually he recovered from the effect of the newfound information, and turned his attention to the girl.

Judging from the after effects of her sharingan use, it was her first time using it. She was pale with exhaustion and had evidently collapsed, as she was barely moving. Itachi put his hand to her neck and felt for a pulse; It was there, but precariously weak and unsteady. She would not last five minutes is he didn't do something about her physical state.

_Idiot..._

He coated his hands with chakra and pressed them to her chest, transferring the energy straight into her core. It took several other transfers and a good fifteen minutes before her breathing and heartbeat began to stabilize, and Itachi felt certain that the girl would survive with enough chakra. Suzu's eyes fluttered open, and when she tried to raise her head he put his hand out to stop her.

"You stupid idiot. Using the eternal mangekyo like that..."

The worse effects of the sudden chakra deprivation began to show, as Suzu began to cough up blood.

"It..was an accident." True enough. First time sharingan activation was nearly always an accidental thing.

"Why did..why did you save me?"

Itachi shifted, uncomfortable with the direct question.

"Damnit, do you really think I could just let you die like that?"

_Not really,_ her expression seemed to admit. Itachi left the cell for painkillers and water, and when he returned he unchained Suzu briefly for her to take them, then re-shackled her by the neck, which _thankfully, _thought Suzu, did no further damage to her wrists. After a few awkward moments of silence, Itachi cleared his throat and left her without another word. Not that Suzu minded much, because she was too weak to do any more talking anyway.

**Like I promised. Though I must apoligize, because there will be a temporary pause on the violence.**


	6. Chapter 6- Any Breif Respite

Chapter Six

It was not difficult to understand that at this point Uchiha Itachi was under a good deal of stress. The life of a fellow Uchiha was partly in his hands, and though he knew that he had no reason to save it he felt a strange obligation to. Itchi was tempted to take from Suzu information of Konoha, and of Danzo, no less. She would likely give it willingly.

He told Pein, though, that she had given only her name.

He had failed Sasuke as a brother, attempted to strengthen him and in doing so destroyed his ties to the village Itachi had wanted him to protect. It was too late to do anything other than continue with his plan at this point, for the sake of protecting him. But perhaps fate had given Uchiha Itachi one more chance, by placing in his power an oppurtunity to save this girl.

The harder part would be shielding her from being subjected to more torture.

The effects of the drugs lasted only a few hours, after which the sickness returned with a vengeance. Suzu had begun to burn with a fever that alternated with crippling chills, another sign of chakra imbalance. The cell door opened, and she groaned audibly. Sasori stepped in, followed by Itachi.

"Did you say it was infection?" Oh. It was indeed true that all her current symptoms could be attributed to infection, as the cuts on parts of her body had become swollen and increasingly painful.

She was unchained and tossed over Itachi's back with a roughness that she realized was feigned. At once she felt his hands held protectively over her back, and decided to trust him at least for the moment. And it was natural that prisoners would be healed once in a while, if there was a danger of death before they broke. Well, perhaps Itachi had exaggerated, but Suzu was fairly certain that the sharingan use's after effects would drain her body anyway. Suzu felt a needle jab her in the arm and cried out, falling sideways from Itachi's shoulder. Suzu was half unconscious when she hit the ground, and could only wonder vaguely whether it was from the impact, or the sedative injected into her.

"How much more of that antiseptic shit do you need anyway, yeah?" Itachi sat quietly in the corner of Sasori's room, watching Deidara's efforts in aiding his fellow danna with half-hearted amusement.

"Shut up brat, just pour it and leave me in peace. Heck, I should have paid Kakuzu to do this!" Sasori had to stitch up a couple of especially deep cuts; There was no actual healer besides Konan, who was away, and Sasori was not a man of patience.

"Seems a pity that we have to do all this work, un. All this wont matter after Pein deals with her, yeah." Deidara snickered at the raven-haired girl, a tongued hand licking up the side of her neck.

"For Kami's sake! Not every young prisoner who gets thrown in here is your sex toy...some but not every..." Sasori lost the train of his thoughts for a moment before regaining his momentum. "And I say that with concern for you, not her!" The blonde rolled his eyes at this, but in truth he was very used to Sasori's comments.

"What was that about Leader-sama?" Itachi asked casually, not betraying his concern.

"Oh, seeing as neither you nor danna here could do anything, he's going to have a go at her himself, un."

_...What?_

"Huh, Uchiha, did you want this one?" Deidara grinned again, a tongue sneaking up Suzu's cheek. At this the girl stirred slightly, then flinched away, making Deidara laugh. Sasori sighed, then jabbed at the air in annoyance.

"Itachi-san, I beg of you, get that unhelpful baka out of here before he rapes that girl in front of our helpless eyes. Damn you, Dei, do you really insist on becoming the next Orochimaru?" Itachi glanced up, for once feeling sympathy for the puppet master.

"Lights out, pervert." He muttered, before activating his sharingan.

**If I irked any Dei fans out there it was unintentional. I like Deidara too, just wanted a bit of OOC for good measure there. **

**Sorry, I know I promised a long chapter here previously, but I forgot that there was going to be one more chapter between Itachi and Suzu. Sorry, sorry, sorry, and I'll make sure to make the torture as brutal as possible to make up for that one ^^**


	7. Chapter 7- Family Ties

**Oh shit. Those of you who expected more torture, I'm sorry...next time I promise.**

Chapter Seven

Suzu woke up fully as Sasori dragged her back to the cell. She began to struggle; Sasori had only a loose grip on her. It was futile, though, and Suzu knew it. She was hardly able to get free before Sasori overpowered her weak efforts and hauled her into the cell. He threw the shackles around her neck, spitefully tying her elbows together in a deplorable attempt at nt marring the rows of stitches on her wrists, which had tried his patience sorely.

Suzu knelt uncomfortably, the strained position of her arms making it feel as if the joints in hre shoulders and arms were being dislocated.

_Damnit, I regret that._

Trying to ignore her discomfort, she dozed into a fitful sleep, but any relief unconsciousness brought was poisoned with a fearful uneasiness. Presently the door to the cell opened, but Suzu was relieved to see only Itachi there. A muscle in his face twitched as he noticed her bonds. He was holding a bottle of water, and knelt uncomfortably in front of her, holding it to her lips.

"Sorry, no food. Don't want it coming back up later. And I don't want to untie you, because it'll hurt more afterwards when I will have to tie you again."

When Suzu was done, Itachi put down the bottle and sat back, staring at her blankly.

"So...you've never been instructed on using the sharingan?"

Suzu snorted with disbelief.

"Who the heck would teach me...Danzo? No, I've only read on it, but even the literature is limited."

"Well, that's fine, but theres probably a lot more you need to know if you're going straight to mangekyo in one shot. _No one _does that."

Suzu shrugged, then hissed at the resulting pain in her elbows. Itachi continued, sincerity in his tone.

"Really, theres a lot. Especially if you don't want to be put in an infirmary for every time you use it." He went on to describe several precautions and instructions, and Suzu listened intently. When he finished he looked back at her, waiting for a response.

"Thats a lot from someone who doesn't have an eternal mangekyo." She remarked lightly, surprised.

It was Itachi's turn to shrug.

"I knew someone- not with an eternal magekyo, mind you- but with an exceptionally powerful one."

_Knew._

Suzu sighed, hoping that it was not a Uchiha that had died by his hand.

"You know, Suzu, for a Uchiha you know pathetically little about your clan."

_Oh, really? Just because I didn't know them personally dosen't mean..._

"On the contrary, you know that you're wrong there. I know enough about its _remaining _members, enough to be a threat, and it takes quite a bit these days. Admit it, Itachi, you know that I'm aware of the truth behind the Uchiha massacre."

Itachi stiffened, forced to admit that he had indeed realized her knowledge of his true motives. No on in their right mind would put any trust in the supposed murderer of their clan. Then again, Suzu had not been raised in the village, and therefore had no close ties to them as people.

"Do you know who your parents were, then?" Maybe she had found that out along with her bloodline.

"Nope. Genetic testing, but I was only using Danzo's samples as matchers." Samples of Uchiha Madara's DNA. "Everyone thought that my brother was Sai, since we looked somewhat alike."

"Oh, that emotionally depraved Root brat."

Suzu smiled slightly; She had heard so many versions of that comment that the least original one had no effect on her.

"They are mostly like that, but Sai is one of the better ones."

Itachi got up, muttering hurriedly.

"I should go. And warn you, I guess. Pein will be here soon." With the drop of that ominous name he left her alone.

**Alright. This is the part where I beg you for reviews, but this time I've got something very different in mind. Which of you want Suzu to end up with Itachi? Which of you don't want it? Which of you anticipate it? Expect it? **

**Let me know, so that I can take your opinions _super seriously _(and write the ending based on it). Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story thus far, especially Kiara97 :D**


	8. Chapter 8- How Much More of This

**Warning: This is the promised torture chapter. However there is a bit of it that will not be very suitable to sensitive souls. I'll warn you right before the part with ***. Well, its not _as _graphic as some that I've read, but I do describe quite a bit. Oh, damn, did I give too much away?  
**  
Chapter Eight

"Do you think she'll live, yeah?" Deidara mused, picking absently at a piece of clay.

"Maybe. You know Leader-sama is usually not very delicate with such matters." Kisame smiled. Everyone in the Akatsuki knew that Pein was merciless. This was especially true in this case, as Pein had a special place in his sadism for Konoha's nin.

When Nagato saw the girl through Pein's eyes he almost pitied her for a moment. Though probably sixteen she was small and bird-like, with dark hair that fell to hide a pale face, and her hunched, fearful position reminded him of his own misfortunes as a child. Then his hatred for Konoha made the feeling give way, and he chained the girl's wrists over her head, making her stir slightly in her sleep. Pein woke her with a hard slap across the face, and Suzu's head snapped up in alarm, a cheek bleeding where Pein's Akatsuki ring had scratched her. Pein reached out and brushed the long hair out of her face, grabbing hold of her chin to force her to look directly at him. He felt her grit her teeth, and at her defiant gaze he flicked his wrist, slashing a shallow cut down the line of her jaw and making Suzu's eyes widen.

"Suzuki. What is your family name?"

_Tell him the half truth._

"I am an orphan."

Pein waited a moment before choosing to give her the benefit of the doubt, then pulled out a kunai.

"What is your connection to Root? Obviously not a member of it, judging by your evidently present emotions. You may be spared, if you speak now."

_What sort of a shinobi..._

"Liar." Suzu said quietly. _He thinks that I will believe him? _"I _know _that I will die either way."

Pein laughed.

"Well, if you insist."

He pressed the knuai down between her neck and shoulder, letting it cut slowly into her skin, then deeper into the bone. Suzu lowered her head again, beads of sweat coming down with the physical strain of bearing it without emotion.

_How the fuck does Sai do it?_

Pein grabbed a front lock of her hair, once again forcing her head up and smiling at her countenance as he continued to press the blade down. Its chakra infused point pushed slowly but effortlessly into Suzu's bone, then stopped halfway through it. Suzu tensed, realizing that it was about to be yanked out. The kunai left the wound in a sudden grinding, twisting motion against the sensitive skin and bone of her shoulder, and Suzu screamed freely as the pain forced her vision into a partial blindness. Pein hit her with some kind of jutsu, probably an energy technique, because at once she was forced back into awareness. He punched her in the stomach with a force that might have been small to him, but on her weakened, starved, body it brought on blood and broken ribs. Pein raked the dull handle of the kunai against her sternum, hitting a bruising pressure point that stung tears into Suzu's eyes.

_Kami...never have I wanted this much to be like the nins in Root!_

She blinked them back. Pein looked almost disappointed, then grabbed her hand. Holding it against the stone wall, he pounded it repeatedly again with the dull end of his kunai. Bruised skin turned quickly into bruised bones, then Pein slammed his fist against her hand, breaking the bones. Suzu shrieked, sharp pain spiking through the damaged nerves. Hardly could she recover from the initial shock of the blow, before Pein kicked her viciously in the side of the leg, breaking her knee. Her screams worsened the pain in her broken ribs, and Suzu saw stars.

_How much more of this..._

"That will feel like nothing...compared to what I have planned for you."

***** (This is your last warning. Scroll down to read my ending Author's Note if you don't want to read the really messed up shit thats about to happen.)**

Pein unchained her, only to rechain her again but in a lower position, so that Suzu knelt facing the wall. He yanked aside her clothes and ran his hands down her bruised, bleeding body, again feeling his sadistic determination to make what he was about to do hurt as much as possible. Suzu realized this, and her pain was replaced immediately by blind fear.

"Please, please, don't do it! Damnit, please, don't do it!"

Pein laughed cruelly as he watched the girl cringe and beg; She was either very afraid of the pain or she was a virgin. On that note, probably both. Perhaps he wouldn't take her virginity, only give her something to fear, which Pein was perfectly capable of. Gripping her waist with one hand, Pein felt around her dry entrance before pushing his finger in roughly. Suzu let out a muffled cry of pain but after that fell silent, only flinching at Pein's touch. He added two more fingers and Suzu screamed in shock, her instinctive movement away bringing on an unbearable pain in her torn shoulder. Pein shoved his fingers in as far as they would go, enjoying Suzu's reaction. He pulled his fingers out, pressing his kunai into her back until she licked the blood off his hand.

Dragging her head back by her hair, he was satisfied at the plain fear written on her face and unsupressable tears streaking down her cheeks. Pein stroked her bruised waist and thighs, eyes locked on Suzu's face. Her wincing fed his sadistic desire, and at once he forgot his resolve to only frighten the girl.

**Dear readers who skipped over the last part: Remember I am still looking for opinions on Itachi and Suzu, so please tell me what you think of a possible relationship!**

**Hmm. Now that I look it over it isn't so bad. In fact, I revised it to leave out the part where he, well, actually fucks her. (Yes...I wrote did write that part -_-*)**

**If you could check out my newest story at **** s/10242682/1/Child-of-the-Broken**, that would be awesome. If you don't that is also fine...its a crappy mess...


	9. Chapter 9-And in the Dead of Quiet (end)

Chapter Nine- End

Suzu lay crying at the floor of the cell for several minutes after Pein threw her there, a cold cheek pressed against the colder stone. Then on instinct she dragged herself off the floor and dressed herself slowly, feeling pain at every small movement. She was in a strange daze. Her limbs- or, rather, the limbs which had not been broken or mauled to the point of breaking- felt heavy and somehow encased in numbness, her mind burned into emptiness by the trauma. Gradually, computation and reality leaked into Suzu's awareness.

Her wounds...her body would never heal itself if she stayed locked in here, and improper healing of her ruined right arm and broken bones might mean the loss of their use. THere were other breaks, other cuts, other deep bruises that Suzu didn't want to count.

_No one is coming after me. No one could ever care about me...not after that._

And all at once Uchiha Suzu was overwhelmed by the very real possibility that she would die alone in the darkness, her mind as shattered as her body was.

_If thats all...then why am I living? Why am I still here?_

SHe raised her good arm to touch her throat, and wondered absently if she still had a voice in her. No, it had to be there; She had heard herself screaming earlier, right?

Earlier. It felt like an eternity ago, an eternity of darkness. She tried it out, experimentally.

"Suzuki." Her voice was little more than a raspy whisper. Suzu's fingers traced the rough grooves of the walls. Their lines formed characters that Suzu understood were merely deluded shadows of her weak eyes, but at the same time she was furious that her own mind was mocking her. In fact, it disturbed her to no end that it was so detatched from her body's reality.

_Run away from here! Escape this place! Run..._

"Damn you, I can't! I can't! By Kami, I'm completely useless. Why am I so useless?" The words left her lips in anger, before Suzu even knew what it was that she was saying. Harsh emotions fell mercilessly against her, forcing tears from her. "I can't! I can't! Let me go...let me die..."

Yes, that was what she wanted. But what in hell's name could she do? Confinement and starvation had ripped the strength from her, and she lacked the energy to pull herself up towards the dangling chains to wrap them around her neck and break it.

"Let me go! I want to leave...her...I want to leave this hell..." Suzu knew how futile it all was, her suicidal fantasies, her agonized sobbing, anything she did now was nothing.

The only thing left in her was the horrible pain that finally coerced her into a sleep-like state, and Suzu gave herself up to it willingly.

It hadn't taken much to realize that Suzu knew his motives, loyalties, and reasonings inside out. Her trust in him after he had found her out proved it. And maybe it was the part of him that he actively denied existed, the bruising need for one human to put trust in another, that made Itachi return her faith.

But as he watched her in the aftermath of Pein's brutality, he could only stand completely silent, outside her door, and curse himself for his cowardice. Itachi wanted desperately to try the best he could to mend her breaking soul and broken body, and yet his forced character kept her from doing so. At last Suzu fell into unconsciousness. Itachi held his head in his hands and thought hard, thought about how easy it would be to just leave the girl in her suffering, forget about his humanity, forget about the pain in the broken, bloody clan where power lay in heartlessness and heartbreak.

_But loneliness it the greatest pain of all._

And in the dead of quiet that followed that one thought his decision was made. Itachi reached back for the love that he had long since given up on, and promised himself that he would not regret this, if only for Suzu's sake. He sat down in a low corner of the cell and let her rest. Once in a while she twitched or muttered something indistinguishable. Itachi had left the door open, as he waited for her to wake up he examined the girl.

She was badly bruised in the face and the rest of her body. One of her shoulders dripped blood, and she held an arm around her stomach as if conscious of pain. Itachi looked away, half- emabarasse, half pitying. A groan from Suzu grouned his thoughts, and Itachi put a tentative hand on her arm. She cringed away from his touch, crying.

"Suzu. Suzu! Calm the fuck down! Its Itachi." _Damnit, what exactly did Pein do to her? _

She caught her breath and stared up at him, agitated and fearful. Itachi made no move to touch her, instead holding out the food he had brought, which Suzu accepted with whispered thanks. SHe ate shakily, and after some water, he handed her some painkillers.

"Would that you had asked me I would have wanted something stronger, like sake." Suzu mumbled hoarsely, a hand pressed to her forehead.

But Itachi was glad nevertheless that she was at least talking. They sat in silence for a while after that, before Itachi, filled with a mixture of curiosity and dread, finally approached the sensitive subject.

"What exactly did the bastard do to you?"

He was not prepared for her unexpected sob, harshly muffled as Suzu buried her face in her hands. A wave of concern washed over Itachi, and he wrapped his arms around the girl, holding her closer when she shrank away from him.

Occasionally she gasped out a few words.

"He..he did..Oh, Kami, it was awful.."

Finally she pulled away, swiping the back of her hand across her eyes and hiccuping with the remains of her crying fit.

"He...uhh..." She looked sideways, and in the dark Itachi saw her blanch. THen it hit him, and Itachi felt like a total idiot for not realizing it earlier.

"He raped you?"

_Oops._

THere he went again, being the insensitive asshole that he was. He glanced at Suzu, who looked as if she was on the verge of another breakdown.

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry." She covered her face for a moment and tried to regain her composure.

"The gods must hate me." Suzu whispered tearfully, staring up at the ceiling of the cell.

"That goes for the both of us." Itachi muttered, not even beginning to come to grips with the possibility that he might not be able to sheild Suzu from further harm. After all, Pein had already...

Suzu spoke, as if reading his mind.

"Hey. No. You go on with your life. You don't have to keep helping me." She said it with such a quiet indifference, Itachi's mind jumped first to disbelief, then to anger.

"What? You think it would be easier on me to just let you die here?" Suzu flinched at his harshness and tried harder not to sound so flippant.

"I only meant...I only meant to say that you are important to many people. You shouldn't risk anything for an airhead like me. Sure, I have my bloodline, but to use it would mean in instant death order from Danzo. I'm not particularly strong, not very good at ninjutsu or taijutsu or anything like, Kami help me, I can barely use the sharingan without knocking myself out." She bit her lip, aware of her prolonged rant. "I'm basically useless, you shouldn't give a damn about me. "

Itachi seemed to consider her words for a moment, then replied slowly and evenly.

"You think that just because I'm the cold Uchiha prodigy, that that means I can't care about people?"

Suzu sighed at his total evasion of her point.

"I only meant that maybe you should pick a better person to care about."

His ebony eyes were warm with emotion, and this time Itachi took no time to respond.

"I think I've chosen pretty damn well."

~End of story~

**Alrighhht. How did I do? Cue the part where I beg for reviews, which is probably okay now that we have reached the end of the story. I hope I found a good balance between Itachi's coldness and the love he is supposed to have for Suzu. If you guys have ideas for a next Naruto fanfic please leave them in the reviews. Thank you to everyone who followed and reviewed: Your support was the literary caffeine of this particular fanfic!**


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